What follows is the result of an idea to connect the field of philosophy and thought with the world of drama. Let us choose sentences to ponder from the statements of the members of the philosophical group, which are archived in the “Chistiha Blog” (http://chistiha.blogfa.com); and after manipulating the concepts of those statements, and doing a brief exercise and editing, let us create a dramatic idea that will continue to form another dialogue, another concept, and another thought.
In the principles of drama writing, “ideation” and “drafting” have a specific method; but we tried to be one step before the idea and the plot. At the same stage of mental spark or, in our own words, the “study” stage, where the writer’s hand is open to writing down any image, concept, or point. Here, we have not limited ourselves to not mentioning the technical instructions, performance arrangements, dialogue, staging, and other matters, and left them for more detailed plans; on the contrary, we have completely written down whatever came to mind at the moment.
During our group meetings, we came to the conclusion that it was not necessary to obtain refined and precise plans from our conversations. It was only necessary to immediately edit and record everything that came to mind in an instant as a “study.”
And now we share the same with you. May these exercises and sketches be the beginning of a path to step on a bridge between philosophy and drama.
Ideas on the Bridge from Philosophy to Drama: Etude One Hundred and Seventeen
Note: These sketches have been registered with the Islamic Culture and Guidance Department. And the intellectual property belongs to the author.
These sketches are only allowed to be republished on the “Chistiha” site.
Etude Ninety-Third
Experimental short film (about three to five minutes)
The sounds on the image are separate from the shots. All the shots have a specific rhythm of camera movement in different directions.
Shots of cats in a green environment. Cats in an afternoon nap, lying down, wagging their tails impatiently and observing everything. And they are lying on the grass and are not in the mood for the playfulness of the smaller ones. Shots of cats in other parks. The camera angle is almost from a low level, the same as the cats. Perhaps the feet of people in the background of the images are blurred in the frame of the images; who are sitting or standing or walking lazily on benches in the park but do not pay any attention to the cats. The world of people is separate.
In the first shots, however, there were two people whose feet are clearly visible, whom we will recognize at the end. Sima and her father. The father is on the right side of the picture and Sima is on the left. Sima is standing looking at the cats. These were the earliest pictures of cats. After that, we saw cats in different parks.
The voices on the pictures of cats are all monologues. The girls’ memories. Different girls talk about their lives. The common denominator of all these girls was frustration, hopelessness, rebellion. These voices (speech) are montaged in parallel. And they return to each other. These speeches end in the last round when we realize that they all ended in the tragedy of suicide. All expressions of the memory of unsuccessful suicides.
With the last statement from the last girl, the pictures change. A cat in a hospital hall. We see the anti-light image of the cat that came in through the window and jumped onto an empty bed. This is a dilapidated hall; from an old hospital; a hall with many beds. There are empty beds around the hall and the camera moves slowly. Beds without mattresses. This used to be a room for girls who committed suicide. And the bars behind the windows make it clear that there is no way out. Especially since it is probably a basement because the windows are built at the very top of the wall. Our cat comes to the middle of this hall. And the camera rotates over the beds. And the voices that have revealed the secrets of Mago. And these secrets all have one thing in common.
This common thing is: each of these women and girls came from a family of high-ranking managers and deputies in the country. And this is the depth of the tragedy. Each of them, who tells of their misfortunes and disappointments, also has a relationship with the authorities. Either their father-in-law or their fiancé’s brother or members of their own family were senior managers. And the contradiction that began between the way these people lived after a while became the main cause of their personality and behavioral disorders.
Finally, we return to the same view of the original cats. The cat that was in the hall is now next to all the cats that we saw in the first shot. And Sima and her father are also seen here from a wider angle. Sima, who is standing (in her short navy coat) and whom we see for the first time, is a head nurse. And her father is the head of the hospital. He points to a new building that Sima should follow there. And the two have come from the same hall that we had seen inside. The same hall with windows on the courtyard floor. The same abandoned hall of the old building. And now Sima’s father (who also has a neat beard) is going. He is going to the new marble building. In the distance, everyone is greeting and bowing to him. Sima, however, is still looking at the cats. We remember one of the voices that said: “When a person’s father is the head of a hospital and he is the head of the same hospital and all their opinions are in complete conflict with each other, there is no other choice for him. Either you have to be his complete subordinate or you will destroy everything.” And we suspect that that voice was Sima’s voice, which was lost among the other voices.
Perhaps this sentence will appear on the credits. Perhaps the credits will once again show Sima’s father walking towards the new marble building. There is not a single cat in the area. And that’s it.
And as for the stories:
Perhaps one of these stories will return to the love of a girl from a wealthy family with a homeless, familyless, and criminal boy.
Perhaps another will return to having a child with a fiancé who is unfortunately in prison and is causing the family’s reputation to decline.
Perhaps another will be an old friend leaving the country.
Maybe one because of the score and not passing the entrance exam.
Another because of a weak ego. And almost unwanted promiscuity and bipolar personality disorder.
Maybe another because of the oppression of the husband’s family.
Maybe one after fifty years of life because of the husband’s job that does not know what is permissible and what is forbidden and takes bribes.
And there are many stories.
The opening credits could also be the end of this departure. That is, the scene where Sima pulls down the door handle of the meeting room and slowly opens the door and through the half-open door her father is seen sitting at the end of the turned wooden table in the meeting room and is busy giving a speech. Although we only hear the music of the opening credits. And then a cut as a film. And then blackness. And the beginning.
Author: B. Khosravani
It is recalled that any copying and extraction of these ideas, from an ethical and legal perspective, is only possible by mentioning the address, and use for performance will only be possible if the author’s written consent is obtained.